Taxation Matter

When you use a Registered Tax Agent to manage your tax affairs, can you deduct the fee in your tax assessment?

Yes, you can. Tax-related expenses are deductible.

Business

If you conduct your business, do you need to register your business name?

Under the “Business Names Act 2002”, if you choose your own name for the business, say, “Francis Lau”, you do not need to register your name. In this way, you can save the registration fee.

If the business is not under your own name, say, “Francis Lau’s Salon”, you must register such name with NSW Fair Trading.

Traffic

If you incurred demerit points of 13 or more within 3 years, what alternative is available to you other than the licence suspension?

If you incurred 13 (14 for Professional drivers) to 15 demerit points, licence suspension is 3 months. If 16 to 19, it is 4 months. If 20 or more, 5 months. An alternative is to elect to be of good behaviour for a period of 12 months from the day of suspension. However, if you incurred 2 or more demerit points during the good behaviour period, your licence suspension will be twice the original period!

Will and probate

If a person deceased without leaving a will, who will inherit his/her estate?

The first is the spouse; if the spouse predeceased the person, the children left; if no children left, the parent; if no parent left, brother or sister; if no brother or sister left, grandparent; if no grandparent left, aunt or uncle; and no aunt or uncle left, State NSW.